Cornaceae -- Dogwood family

    B. F. McLemore

    Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) is one of America's  most popular ornamental trees. Known to most people simply as  dogwood, it has other common names, including boxwood and cornel.  The species name florida is Latin for flowering, but the  showy petal-like bracts are not in fact flowers. The bright red  fruit of this fast-growing short-lived tree are poisonous to  humans but provide a great variety of wildlife with food. The  wood is smooth, hard and close-textured and now used for  specialty products.